Students Gain Essential Skills Through Fundraising Efforts

5/21/2020

Shay Kathuria

At Glenelg Country School (GCS), students are given the support to not only receive an excellent education but also to develop skills that they will be able to carry and use for the rest of their lives by participating in community outreach projects.

Upper School students Noor and Imroze Singh recently took on the challenge of participating in The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s annual Student of the Year campaign. This yearly campaign offers a challenge to nominated high school students, participating in a fundraising competition across the state. Students have seven weeks to raise as much money as possible by forming a team and executing a carefully constructed community outreach plan.

As participants on a student team in the last year's campaign, the Singh twins rose to the challenge of forming and leading their own fundraising team. Competing against 13 teams from high schools across Maryland, the Singhs, along with ten other GCS students, set a goal of raising $50,000 for leukemia research.

The Singhs quickly realized being successful meant early planning was essential. Beginning about six months before the start of the campaign, the twins formed a trustworthy team. The team, which included six other GCS students—Aryan Asemani, Ethan Lao, Jacob Luna, Olivia Milne, and Mitchell Turner—and held weekly team meetings to plan fundraising events. Once the campaign kicked off, all student team members sent emails requesting donations and sponsorships to ensure the success of their fundraisers.

The team used school announcements, events, and email campaigns to promote each fundraising event. These events included a benefit concert at Circle D Farms, a Superbowl party at Brewers Art Tavern, and a hosted dinner at home. They also managed to receive corporate sponsorships from DoubleTree by Hilton and BB&T Bank. The Singh twins also organized and attended a meeting with the marketing department at Breakthru Beverage to discuss beneficial campaign marketing tactics.

"We felt so adult by meeting with businesses and companies, and asking for money, sponsorships, and their support in our campaign," said Noor. "It was nerve-wracking, but it gave us a good real-world, business experience."

Throughout the campaign, the Singhs learned how to develop a professional voice and interact with the corporate workforce. They learned the ins and outs of organizing events, and how much work goes into the fine details, and, most importantly, learned how to lead a team of people who are all driven to achieve a specific goal.

Through their hard work, the Singhs surpassed their goal, donating $52,863 to leukemia research. They ended the competition in fourth place statewide.